A new radio documentary looking at the aftermath of Hillsborough will air tonight.
Hillsborough’s Untold Stories on BBC Radio 5 live at 9pm includes interviews with Liverpool fans who were at the FA Cup semi-final, former Reds goalkeeper Bruce Grobelaar and the mother of a Nottingham Forest fan, who took his life after witnessing the tragedy.
The producers of the show said it would focus on how Hillsborough affected people in the weeks, months and years after April 15, 1989, and how it still does today on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the disaster, which led to the deaths of 96 supporters.
It features interviews with Liverpool fans Neil Fitzmaurice and Gareth O’Leary and trauma specialist Professor Gordon Turnbull, who has treated many Hillsborough survivors for symptoms including depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
During the documentary, Liverpool actor Neil, 44, reveals how stunned fans were forced to queue to leave the stadium after the crush, and hundreds of supporters desperately queued for a phone box to try and call relatives back home.
He said: “You have got to remember that day was an attack on every single sense we have, it was the smell, sight, sound touch - I had teeth marks in my back. The effect was right across the scale.
“I think directly afterwards it was a case of not even thinking about it - we were still in survival mode.
“It’s very hard to explain, but when the memories come back it’s not a distant, hazy, Vaseline on the lens memory from like a 1920s film - I am there, I’m straight back, and it is very vivid.”
The show explains how there are at least three reported suicides connected to Hillsborough - one of a Liverpool fan who was in the Leppings Lane End, Paul Griffiths, one of a Liverpool fan who wasn’t there but sold his ticket to a fan, Stephen Whittle, and one of a Nottingham Forest fan, Chris Tribe, who watched the tragedy unfold in the stadium in Sheffield.
His mother Glenys Tribe and sister talk about how Chris, 38, suffered a breakdown three weeks after the game and later committed suicide after a long battle with depression.
Presented by Mark Pougatch, the 90-minute programme, also includes an interview with BBC sports commentator Alan Green, who talks about the impact of the day on him and his late colleague Peter Jones, who covered the match.
Hillsborough’s Untold Stories is on BBC Radio 5 live at 9pm.
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